Dyngus Day brings rivals together but can South Bend Democrats unite after May 2 primary?
SOUTH BEND — Standing on the corner outside of the LaSalle Landing Lodge No. 298 Monday, a cluster of Democratic politicians reached up to remove the white sleeve off of a temporary street sign reading “Solidarity Day Dr.”
The moment — a political pit stop on Dyngus Day and Solidarity Day, when voters and candidates carouse on the Monday following Easter — aptly gathered candidates who are at odds in a contentious primary election. South Bend Mayor James Mueller led the push and his challenger Henry Davis Jr. finished it, holding the white cover in hand. City Clerk Dawn Jones and her Mueller-endorsed opponent, Bianca Tirado, stood steps away from each other.
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Democrats this year used the holiday as a chance to emphasize their differences ahead of the May 2 primary election while keeping in mind that, come May 3, a diverse slate of Republicans will try to make headway in city government.
“That’s not by chance. (Republicans) see the fissures in the Black and brown and poor communities, and they seek to exploit that,” said Drew Duncan, the 33-year-old Riley High School and Indiana University South Bend graduate challenging South Bend Common Council President Sharon McBride.
“If we don’t have candidates that are willing to get to the doors and talk to them and understand their plight, and not tell them that it’s sunshine even though we know it’s not,” Duncan added, “they won’t vote.”
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Republicans hold one city office, Common Council District 5, where Eli Wax will run for reelection against the winner of the Democratic primary. Democrats Sherry Bolden-Simpson, a director at Rise Up Academy high school, and Patrick Reighter, a financial adviser, seek to oust Wax.
But there are already seven Republicans running for clerk, common council and mayor this November, led by mayoral candidate Desmont Upchurch, who is Black. Five of the candidates are Black or Latino. St. Joseph County GOP Chair Tyler Gillean has said that more candidates may file after the May primary.
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Such a robust challenge is rare in races for office in South Bend, where the last Republican mayor was elected in 1967.
“We (Democrats) agree on much more together than we do with Republicans, who are gearing up to run someone against every Democrat here in South Bend,” Mueller said Monday as he left the lodge. “And that’s not something that they’ve historically done.”
Yet slight ideological differences among Democrats have energized Davis, Duncan and several more millennial Democrats who say they’ll run counter to the status quo.
Most Democratic candidates cite public safety, equitable investment in neighborhoods and more affordable housing as core issues. But the challengers’ main pitch is to put forward more progressive policies with a heightened sense of urgency. They have criticized the common council for perceived delays on ideas such as a reparations resolution and the Community Police Review Board.
Bruce Mitchell Jr. is challenging Common Council Vice President Sheila Niezgodski in the 6th District, while Nick Hamann seeks to oust 1st District councilor Canneth Lee. Jorden Giger is competing with Ophelia Gooden-Rogers to win the 2nd District, and LaQuita Hughes is vying for a common council at-large seat.
“I agree with a lot of people who say, ‘(Democrats) have been running the city for 40 years. Why is something different now?’” Duncan said. “We’re different now because we’re usurping the party. … We’re different because we’re actually talking about the issues and the plights of people in the blind spots of the city.”
Some St. Joseph County Democratic Party leaders have criticized the outsider candidates for making an overtly negative appeal to voters, which Duncan said is needed to counter “toxic optimism” pushed by current officials. Common council members often butt heads with Davis, who’s in his third term as the 2nd District councilor, at meetings over perceived slights.
But Davis said his consistent pushback on colleagues is in service to “a lot of people who feel disconnected from South Bend city government. There are tons. We have to give them a reason to feel connected.”
“If everyone is asking for unity,” he added, “they have to thicken up their skin and listen to people’s answers.”
Steve Luecke, who served as South Bend mayor from 1997 to 2011, said during Monday’s festivities that he views the intra-party competition as healthy.
He became used to the same criticism applied to his successor, Pete Buttigieg, and now Mueller: residents of predominantly Black and Hispanic west side neighborhoods have long faced disinvestment and are left behind areas near Notre Dame and downtown. Moreover, the city’s 20.9% poverty rate is nearly twice the national average, according to census data.
“Sometimes you don’t have as many tools,” Luecke said. “Sometimes you’re relying on the private sector to be partners in investment, and you can’t necessarily tell the private sector that they have to go here vs. here.”
“I think there’s been a continued effort to direct resources here,” he added, “but we also know that there are many people who don’t necessarily see that yet, and who may be dissatisfied. It’s a tough job. You do the best that you can.”
The tradition of Dyngus, Solidarity Day
In South Bend, Solidarity Day began in response to a lack of unity among white and Black Democrats, according to Gladys Muhammad, a leader in the St. Joseph County Democratic Party for more than three decades. She said a group of Black leaders sought to engage African American voters in a manner comparable to Dyngus Day.
Since the early 1990s, barbeque ribs, sausage and chicken have been served at the LaSalle Landing Lodge No. 298, also known as the Elks lodge, on Western Avenue, Muhammad said. As she spoke, scents wafted over from the smokers out back of the squat red building.
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On Dyngus Day, a traditionally Polish holiday, many white and working class voters have gathered for nearly a century at the West Side Democratic and Civic Club. Owner Tim Hudak, who’s led Dyngusing for 40 years, said a ritual has emerged in which the top Democrat on the party ticket arrives before sunup to sign for the day’s shipment of kielbasa, or Polish sausage.
The club achieved national acclaim in 1968, when presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy drew record crowds for a downtown speech and a trip to the club.
Since then, Hudak said, Bill and Chelsea Clinton came in 2008 to campaign for Hillary. On Monday, Jennifer McCormick, the former Indiana superintendent of public instruction, took the mic to let a packed room know of her possible 2024 run for governor.
“Hopefully,” Hudak said, “one day we’ll get Pete Buttigieg back here as a candidate for president again, and then he’ll cover the bill.”
Contact South Bend Tribune city reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Dyngus Day, Solidarity Day festivities ahead of May primary
